An Alachua County Sheriff’s deputy whose police dog died of heat exhaustion in July will be removed from the K-9 unit, the sheriff’s office announced Monday.
The office also announced it would soon outfit all of its K-9 vehicles with new safety features — called No Dog Left Behind — to prevent future injury or death, said Art Forgey, a sheriff’s office spokesman.
“That’s a direct result of this so we can try to prevent the tragedy again,” Forgey said.
On July 8, Deputy Tommy Wilcox left his 6-year-old dog, a Belgian Malinois named Robbie, inside a hot police car, where the dog eventually died, according to an offense report.
During an internal investigation following Robbie’s death, ACSO’s Office of Professional Standards found Wilcox violated several policies, including performance of duty and neglect of duty and driving, according to a statement released by the sheriff’s office.
In addition to his removal from the K-9 unit, Wilcox will be suspended six days without pay and placed on a three-month disciplinary probation, according to the statement.
The suspension will likely begin within the next 30 days based on shift scheduling, Forgey said.
The new $33,000 safety upgrade, which has no set implementation date, will alert K-9 deputies if the back doors of their vehicles — where their dogs are held — do not open after a certain amount of time once the deputies’ doors close, he said.
If the back door does not open, the vehicle alarm will sound, and the deputy will receive text alerts, Forgey said.
